There is nothing quite like it. Twenty of the world's finest three-year-old thoroughbreds parading to post beneath the iconic Twin Spires. The hauntingly beautiful melody of "My Old Kentucky Home" drifting through the warm, spring air, sung perfectly in tune with the symphony of hoof beats that march across the track. A massive crowd of people, blended beautifully into a sea of colors and hats, gather to witness victory. The Kentucky Derby is one of the most illustrious events in all of sports. It is the one race that everybody, racing fan or not, knows about. There is something so mesmerizing and enchanting about watching the aristocratic thoroughbreds battle it out, on racing's biggest stage. The tradition began well over a century ago, all the way back in 1875. It was a day that would forever change the history of the sport. The inaugural running of the Kentucky Derby commenced that May, and was won by a little, red underdog named, Aristides.
H. Price McGrath bred Aristides at McGrathiana Stud, in Kentucky. The colt was out of the first American crop of Leamington, and was named after Aristides Welch, who was a good friend of McGrath’s. No one could have guessed it at the time, but it was a name that would go down in history.
Aristides wasn’t a magnificent colt in terms of looks. He was a scrawny, little thing, barely standing over fifteen hands high. He wasn’t exactly the type of animal that could strike fear into the competition with a mere glance. In fact, it was Aristides’s stablemate, Chesapeake, who was favored by McGrath and trainer, Ansel Williamson. When the inaugural Kentucky Derby was set to be run, Aristides wasn't even considered to win the race and was entered for the soul purpose of setting the pace for Chesapeake. However, nobody told Aristides that he wasn’t supposed to win the race, and when the copper colt hit the track, his might and worth quickly became undeniable.
Fifteen thoroughbreds lined up to do battle in the first edition of the Kentucky Derby. At the time, the race was run at the grueling distance of 1 ½ miles, a testing challenge for any athlete. A crowd of around ten-thousand people gathered beneath the fabled Twin Spires to see which horse had what it took to cross the wire first.
As expected, it was the nimble Aristides that launched to the lead at the start of the race. Aristides brazenly led the fray through the first quarter-mile, before a horse by the name of McCreery jumped up to steal the lead. However, McCreery’s time in the spotlight was short lived, because Aristides was nowhere close to being done. Calling upon all his class, Aristides found more strength and speed, and swiftly battled his way back to the top.
Aristides showed no signs of relenting as he daringly blazed around the track. His speed never faltered and his stamina never wavered as he dashed through furlong after furlong. Unleashing every bit of strength that he had, Aristides roared into the stretch, determined to finish what he started. His competition desperately tried to close in on him, but Aristides was not having any of it. Refusing to yield, the little colt soared down the stretch, successfully keeping the entire field at bay. As he pounded toward the wire, Oliver Lewis, the rider of Aristides, glanced in the direction of McGrath in utter shock, knowing full well that nobody expected this horse to win. Equally as stunned, McGrath excitedly began to wave and urge them on, seeing victory in his grasp. Despite previously believing that Chesapeake would be the better of the two in this inaugural event, it was now clear to McGrath that the better colt was actually the one that no body believed in. McGrath indeed had the winner all along, he just didn't realize which colt it was until now. With the wire rapidly approaching and with Aristides locked in the zone, it was obvious that no matter what, there was no stopping the little, red horse. Aristides was going to be the very first Kentucky Derby winner.
Aristides bounded over the finish line, officially becoming the first horse to ever win the "Run for the Roses". He completed the race in 2:37, outrunning every colt and filly that had dared to challenge. His own stablemate, Chesapeake, who had once left Aristides in his shadow, could do no better than eighth. Aristides had successfully turned the tables in a sublime story of rags to riches.
In 1875, there was no cape of roses that awaited the victor, and there was no lofty $2 million purse like there is today. Instead, Aristides stood in a circle made of chalk dust, and collected a prize of $2,850. However, it wasn’t what he earned after the race that mattered. It was what he did on the track that day. Aristides defied the odds and went against what everyone believed about him to become the very first Kentucky Derby champion, and that is a title that no one can ever take away from him.
Statue of Aristides at Churchill Downs ( https://www.facebook.com/Chelsea-Lowman-Photography-331822924004/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel)
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